A spin off of the "Old People Question" about encyclopedias - Readers Digest Condensed book.

[Tiggerish]

Does any one remember getting Reader Digest Condensed Books growing up. One hard covered book contained three to five "condensed" books and you got four books a year. I think they were published between 1952 and 1997. I know my Dad got them in the late 60's until they quit publishing in 1997.

 

[tvguy]

My parents had them. Not sure why since I don't recall anyone ever actually reading them.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We didn’t, but a friend of mine bought them faithfully. I assumed she read them. I did read the monthly magazine.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

My grandparents had them. I never read them because if I want to read a book I want the entire text, you know?

 

[jo-jo]

I did, read a lot of them. Also the monthly magazine. Kept a few of the books, but about 10 years ago, most went out the door with bulk of our national geographic magazine. Co-worker of my brother, took them to a VA hospital.

 

[Meriweather]

We didn't have those.....didn't read Readers Digest at all

 

[amcnj]

I remember seeing and hearing about the condensed books, but we never had any. I do remember reading the Reader’s Digest magazine though.

 

[fla4fun]

My grandparents had some of them, and I used to read them when we visited. I found one of my favorite authors from reading one. I enjoyed the condensed story so much I wanted to read the original and went on to purchase all of her books as a result. There were several other stories that I read that I went looking for the full book as well.

We didn’t get the magazine, or know anyone who did.

 

[DVC-Don]

We used to buy some at yard sales.

 

[JLTraveling]

I loved them. If I particularly enjoyed a story, I'd get a copy of the full book. My grandmother gave me a Reader's Digest magazine subscription for my birthday every year until she passed when I was 16.

 

[disneyseniors]

Does any one remember getting Reader Digest Condensed Books growing up. One hard covered book contained three to five "condensed" books and you got four books a year. I think they were published between 1952 and 1997. I know my Dad got them in the late 60's until they quit publishing in 1997.

YEP, we used to get those. I loved them because I was a busy young Mom at that time and didn't have time to read a whole book. Thanks for the memories.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Were those Reader's Digest books the ones with titles like Quest To The Past or Mysteries Of Egypt? My godfather also used to collect Reader's Digest books and my parents used to get a bunch of them from my godfather when he would send my family Christmas packages and we still have quite a bit of them. I also have large print editions of Reader's Digest that were for blind people and I don't know how we ended up with them but my godfather sent a whole box of them. I didn't realize that Reader's Digest is still being published today because I thought they were no longer published like Life Magazine but only the music division and book division of Reader's Digest exists today

 

[goofyernmost]

My Father dropped out of School after 10th grade. That didn't mean he was uneducated because he read everything he could get his hands on. Readers Digest and Readers Digest Condensed were no exception. He would read books cover to cover in one sitting. It's sort of the theory of wanting to know a little bit about everything. His specialty was as a diesel mechanic which he was great at, but there was no limit of things he knew how to do well.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Did you also have the Reader's Digest editions for the blind as well? As I mentioned in my earlier post my godfather sent my parents some and I don't know how my godfather ended up with them but we had like three of those versions of Reader's Digest. I didn't even know Reader's Digest is still existing until my mom got an Reader's Digest mailed to her by accident and I was surprised to see how good it still was

 

[barkley]

i just remember a few high school teachers warning us that we could not take a short-cut by reading them in place of the full unabridged version of whatever books we had been assigned. they said that they knew what was missing and that there WOULD be questions on the tests that covered those missing bits and pieces

 

[leebee]

My grandparents bought the condensed books when I was in middle/high school and I read them cover to cover. They also subscribed to the magazine, which, for some odd reason, they kept in the bathroom. Needless to say, sometimes I'd be in the bathroom for a verrryyyy long time, reading the Reader's Digest!

 

[DodgerGirl]

I remember when Readers Digest was all the rage and it was a great magazine that had articles on health entertainment cooking and just about anything you could name. And just like Life Magazine they made music albums and books too. My godfather used to collect Readers Digest records and my godmother used to collect the Readers Digest cookbooks which my godfather gave my mom and my godmother used to learn new recipes from her Readers Digest cookbooks because way before she married my godfather my godmother was an actual cook in a restaurant and my godfather always raved about her delicious recipes from the Readers Digest cookbooks. I had no idea as I mentioned that Readers Digest was still in print because I thought they quit publishing it. I wonder if any of the books and cookbooks of Reader's Digest are collector's items today?

 

[NannyBeBe]

I remember having a few of the condensed books, but never read them because I preferred to read the entire book. I still see the books sometimes in the thrift stores.

 

[_19disnA]

Never understood the interest in 'condensed' books. Seems you choose to read for the enjoyment when you aren't doing something else. If you are in a hurry, seems you would read at another time.

 

[citruscurtis]

That's why the is having a tilt problem on its axis...at our Book sale for the last 40 years we have been throwing them all away and just recently national geographics...life magazines seem to be holding their own... for some reason adolescent boys tend to purchase them